OMERS appoints chief pension officer to chief executive, replacing Latimer

TORONTO – OMERS says it has appointed the pension fund’s president and chief pension officer as chief executive effective in June.

The pension fund handling the retirement benefits of local government employees in Ontario says Blake Hutcheson will succeed Michael Latimer, who is retiring after two decades with OMERS including the last six as CEO.

Board chairman George Cooke says Hutcheson has a track record of building successful global organizations and showing great investment judgment.

Under Latimer’s leadership, OMERS assets have grown more than 50 per cent to more than $100 billion and the fund achieved an annual net return of eight per cent.

The organization deployed $33 billion of capital while expanding its global footprint by opening officers in Singapore, Sydney, Paris, Berlin, Boston and San Francisco.

Hutcheson has worked at OMERS for a decade, the first eight-and-a-half years heading real estate subsidiary Oxford Properties.

“It is an honour to be asked to take on this leadership role at this important time in the history of OMERS. I accept it with equanimity and tremendous enthusiasm,” Hutcheson said in a statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 12, 2019.